


The Quest for the Jewel

by pinestripes



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, First Meetings, Indiana Jones AU, Oneshot, canon-typical bickering, rated for mild violence and canon-typical language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-29
Updated: 2019-12-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:08:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22013116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinestripes/pseuds/pinestripes
Summary: Kagome Higurashi is having a bad day. She's been kidnapped because of a case of mistaken identity, and her abductors are convinced she knows the location of some "Sacred Jewel." To make matters worse, her fellow captive is kind of a jerk. Unfortunately for her, he may also be her only ticket to freedom. An AU inspired by the Indiana Jones film series.
Relationships: Higurashi Kagome/InuYasha
Comments: 7
Kudos: 15





	The Quest for the Jewel

**Author's Note:**

> This is a little story inspired by the Indiana Jones film series. It isn't intended to follow the plot of any of the individual films, but just to have some of the same elements and general premise. In that vein, Inuyasha and the gang are all human in this AU, though the artifacts (namely, the Sacred Jewel) do have supernatural origins and capabilities like in Indiana Jones.
> 
> Fun fact: This entire idea stemmed from a realization I had one day a few years ago: "Indiana" and "Inuyasha" have the same number of syllables. That's it. That was the inspiration for this entire thing.
> 
> Here's the main thing you should know: this little story was originally going to be part of a long multi-chapter fic, which itself would possibly be part of a series. However, after literal years of working at it and still not knowing where I was going with it in terms of the plot, I decided to just go ahead and publish the first chunk of what I have as a oneshot. If anyone is interested, I might publish a few more chunks of what I have written to make this a collection of loosely-connected vignettes. That's a big might, though, which is why I currently have the status of this story listed as "complete." I just felt like potential readers should know that going into this. It's not really a completed story, just a snapshot of/introduction to this fun AU.
> 
> As always, dedicated to my sister for being my beta and anime-watching buddy.

She was in a cell _._

The young woman blinked a few times, slowly, trying to shake off the grasping fingers of unconsciousness from her mind. She checked again. Yes, that was a cell—like in a _prison._ _Oh, dear._

She let her head rest against the concrete floor once again as she slowly grew alert, trying to ignore a wave of nausea. Clarity returned to her—work, an alley, hands, a car, a sweet-smelling cloth—and now a cell.

The woman finally sat up and did a quick stock of her injuries—nothing major, just a few bumps, bruises, and a rip in her favorite skirt—and crawled over to the bars of her cell, not quite feeling up to walking yet, but definitely feeling up to giving someone a piece of her mind.

"Hello? Is someone there?" the woman called in her native Japanese. "You better come out right now! You have some serious explaining to do! Hey!"

"Oh, shut up, would you?"

The woman blinked and unthinkingly obliged the request. The voice, male and speaking in English, had come from the cell across from her own. The owner of the voice was in the back corner of the cell, making him difficult to see. "Hello?" the woman called, quieter and in accented English.

"Look, lady, I don't know what kinda trouble you're in here, but when they want you, they'll come get you. No use yelling loud enough to annoy the rest of us who just want to enjoy some of our final moments in peace," the voice responded.

The woman's eyes narrowed. Had he no sympathy? "Why, you—"

The man cut her off. "Speaking of which, here comes someone. I would imagine he's here for you." There was a pause, then the man continued in a microscopically gentler voice, "Your best bet to stay alive is to give her whatever she wants."

The woman almost asked him who he was talking about, but before she had a chance, a man stopped outside her cell. He stood at attention, dressed in worn but sturdy clothing. He appeared to be from her own country, and when he spoke, he did so in Japanese: "You will come with me, Miss Kobayashi."

* * *

The woman was brought to a small, bare room, where she was handcuffed to a metal chair. There, she tried to sit up straighter, chin raised. They—whoever _they_ were—would regret doing this, she would make sure.

Soon enough, the heavy metal door to the inadequately lit room was opened. Another man entered, along with a woman, dressed practically in a sturdy red blouse and khaki pants. Jet black hair swayed around her shoulders, the lack of gray contrasting with her middle-aged face. Her mouth rested in a thin line, eyebrows drawn downward. What stood out, though, was a deep, jagged scar running down from her left temple to her mouth. She came to stand in front of the young woman.

"Kikyo Kobayashi," she said in Japanese. "It was difficult to find you. I thought you were dead, and then when I heard you had been seen in your home country, I could barely believe it."

The young woman in the chair was speechless for a moment, losing her previous unafraid stance, finally stammering out, "But there's been a mistake. You must have the wrong person. My name is Kagome Higurashi."

"Good try, but there is no way you are not Kikyo. Our intel is quite positive. And I never forget a face." The woman gave a wry, closed-lipped smile. "Especially not yours."

"Really, I don't know who this Kikyo person is. We must look alike. It's a coincidence!"

The slap was sudden and hard, and Kagome had to blink stars away. "Enough," the woman snapped. "I know you have it. Give it to me."

Kagome's ear rang on the side she had been struck. "Wha—what?"

"The location of the jewel."

"What jewel? I don't know anything that you are talking about. I don't even know who you are."

The second slap was harder. Kagome vainly attempted to blink rapidly and clear her vision.

"Are you really that stupid? How could you forget Mistress Centipede, to whom you gave this scar just three months ago?" The woman's face wore an ugly, twisted expression. Her eyes burned. "If you refuse to give me the location of the jewel, I can force it out of you, girl." She directed the next to the guards in the room. "Take her back to her cell. No food or water. Bring her back to me in the morning."

At that, Kagome was dragged away, and upon return to her cell, dropped on the floor none too gently. The cell door was slammed shut and locked, and she was alone.

Kagome sat up and attempted to massage away her new headache. She was now thoroughly confused. Who did this Mistress Centipede think she was? And what jewel was the woman talking about?

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the man in the cell across from hers, reminding her that she was _not,_ in fact, actually alone. "You still alive?" he asked.

"Yes?" Kagome answered.

She heard a grunt.

 _"You_ don't sound very happy about that."

"I don't really care. I just wanted to know if I should expect to hear any more of your yapping."

Kagome frowned. This was the last straw. "Couldn't you be a little nicer? I've been kidnapped and brought to who-knows-where only to find out that it's because I look like some person named Kikyo—who, I should add, I've no—"

"Kikyo?" The man sounded surprised and a little desperate. "Kikyo Kobayashi? What about her?"

"Ah, this Mistress Centipede or whoever apparently thinks I'm her. I must look like her or something. She also seems to think I know the location of some sort of jewel."

"That old hag thinks you're Kikyo? Come into the light."

Kagome shifted forward, pressing her face into the space between the bars. She was surprised to see her neighbor do the same. He looked out the bars of his cell. While the light in the hallway was dim, she was able to make out his face. He had dark eyes and unkempt black hair that brushed the collar of his shirt, which looked like it had once been white but had not been for a while. His face was smudged with dirt and sweat, and he looked tired. Kagome supposed he might be handsome once he got a bath.

He seemed to be inspecting her face, intense dark eyes darting over her and making her feel somewhat vulnerable. He finally seemed to come to a decision. "You don't look nothing like Kikyo. She's a little older than you." He smirked. "And she's prettier. Much prettier."

"Hey!" Kagome cried indignantly. She noticed, however, the note of disappointment in his voice. "You really shouldn't be so rude to someone you just met."

" _And_ you're way more annoying. Centipede must have some real idiots working for her. How they mixed the two of you up is beyond me."

"Look, you. I don't know who this Kikyo person is, but I'm not her. If you know that, can't you tell them the truth?"

He scoffed. "Why would they believe me? You ain't real bright, either, are you sweetheart?"

"Sweetheart?! I am not your sweetheart, Mister—um..."

"Jones," the man helpfully supplied.

Kagome pursed her lips. "Mr. Jones. Well, my name is Kagome, if you could actually use it."

"Don't care." Was that a smile? The man was actually enjoying ruffling her feathers!

Kagome growled, throwing her hands up in the air. "You're hopeless! Good night, Mr. Jones!"

"Night, sweetheart."

A frustrated shriek was the only response he received.

* * *

"Hey!"

Kagome shifted, frowning in her sleep.

A whispered "Hey!"

"Hm?"

"Wake up, would you?" Mr. Jones was sitting at his cell door, legs crossed and arms folded.

"What is it?" Kagome asked in the same muted tone he was using, propping herself up an elbow and rubbing at her face.

"What was it the old hag said about a jewel?"

The young woman frowned in thought. "I believe she thought I knew where it was located. I couldn't tell her, so she sent me back here. She told the guards to bring me back in the morning." Her eyes widened. "What time is it?" she asked in alarm.

"Still early. They shouldn't be here for you yet," Mr. Jones responded. A beat of silence and then he continued, "You know she's going to try and force you to tell her about that jewel, don't you? It won't exactly be pleasant."

Kagome swallowed. The thought had crossed her mind, but she had been electing to ignore it in order not to become hysterical or something of that nature. At the thought, her heart pounded, and her voice rose in alarm. "But—but she can't possibly—I don't know what she's talking about!"

"Quiet!" Jones hissed. "We don't want them to hear us."

"But—"

"It doesn't matter whether you know what she's talking about or not. She thinks you do, and she's not going to let up on you until you tell her. She's a vindictive old hag, and since she hates Kikyo so much for scarring her face, she'll be worse than normal. You'll probably end up dead by the end."

When Kagome spoke, her voice trembled. "Is there anything—"

"I can help you. If you get me out of here."

Hope blossomed in her chest, trembling. "...really?"

"Yes, really. If you can get me out of here, I'll help you."

"I'm not sure I can trust you. What if you get free and run?"

"Do you wanna die, girl?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, looking almost irritated.

Kagome did not. "Fine. Any suggestions?"

* * *

"Hey! HEY!"

A different guard from earlier, this one wearing a worn brown fedora on his head, stomped to the door of the cell where the shouting was coming from. "What is your problem?" he snapped in English.

"Finally. I've been yelling for fifteen minutes. I could have been dying you know," the young woman in the cell complained.

The guard looked like he didn't particularly care. "And?"

"I have to use the ladies' room," Kagome stated.

The guard groaned, but he took a ring of keys off his belt, unlocked the cell door and, upon reaching in, pulled Kagome out by her upper arm. "Don't cause any trouble."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Kagome responded. She heard a snort from Mr. Jones's cell that she elected to ignore.

When Kagome had finished her business in the small bathroom she had been taken to, the guard walked her back to the rows of cells. Right at the door to hers though, Kagome suddenly swooned. Her knees buckled, body going limp in the arm of the guard.

"Dammit. That woman needs to learn that not feeding people makes it harder to deal with them," the guard grumbled. He tried to maneuver the young woman so he could carry her the last few feet to her cell. If her hand brushed his belt, he did not notice. If there was a clang of something hitting the concrete floor, he did not hear it over Kagome's loud groan as she began to stir. When she spasmed suddenly, he could only avoid getting hit in the face by her head and heard nothing scraping across the floor. And if the occupant of the cell across from Kagome's wore a smile, the guard could not see in the dim light.

* * *

For another hour, Kagome played the part of a scared young woman weak with hunger and thirst. Neither she nor Mr. Jones made any attempt at conversation, both waiting anxiously for Mistress Centipede's summons. Finally, it came.

Kagome heard voices down the hall. They approached quickly, and, suddenly fearful, she called softly, "You are going to help me, right Mr. Jones? You'll get me out of here?"

She received no answer, and her view out her cell door was suddenly blocked by a handful of men, one of whom was unlocking her door. As the men entered and picked her up off the ground by either arm, panic began to rise within her.

"Right, Mr. Jones? Mr. Jones? Mr. Jones!" she nearly shrieked. When she received no answer, she went very still, earning a prodding from a guard that was not one of the two holding onto her. She began moving robotically, breath shaking.

Rather than the small interrogation room from before, Kagome was brought outside and into a warehouse. In the middle of the gigantic room was a metal chair. Standing next to it, hands clasped behind her back, was Mistress Centipede. Armed men and women were ringed around the room.

As Kagome was handcuffed to the chair, Mistress Centipede greeted her coldly. "Feeling a little more talkative, Miss Kobayashi? For your sake, I hope so."

Kagome knew that if she was alone, she was going to have to convince this woman of her ignorance. "Please, Mistress Centipede, believe me," she begged, abandoning the poise she had tried to maintain earlier. "This is all some sort of misunderstanding. My name is Kagome Higurashi, not Kikyo, and I have no idea what any of this is about."

"There is no way you are not Kikyo Kobayashi. I told you, I never forget a face."

"Well, the man in the cell across from mine knew Kikyo and says I'm nothing like her!"

"Ah, right. Inuyasha Jones. He's a rotten liar, I've learned. He claimed not to know where the jewel was located either. Unfortunately though, I couldn't force it out of him since we hoped his being here would draw you out." Mistress Centipede came forward and grabbed Kagome's chin painfully. "And here you are."

The older woman reached behind her and produced a curved knife. "Last chance. Where is the Shikon Jewel?"

Kagome struggled to breathe. "I—I don't know. Please believe me!"

Mistress Centipede sighed. "Oh, well. It's quite the shame that I have to ruin your pretty face," she lamented, drawing the curve of the blade lightly across Kagome's cheekbone, receiving a terrified sob from the girl. "I used to be beautiful like that, once—before you ruined me. It's my turn now." For the first time, what appeared to be a true smile appeared on her face.

Gunfire suddenly rang out, causing Mistress Centipede to jerk away from Kagome in surprise. A guard fell, and others began to shout in confusion, raising their weapons but not knowing where to point them.

More gunfire was heard, and two more guards fell. This time, however, Centipede's henchmen returned fire, aiming for a dark catwalk. Suddenly, a figure appeared, appearing to jump off the catwalk and swing to the ground on a chain hanging from the ceiling. He grabbed the brown fedora off the head of the guard that had taken Kagome to the bathroom and landed just to the right of her chair.

Immediately, he pointed his gun at Centipede's heart, reaching up to place the fedora on his head. "Hello, ugly old hag."

"Jones!" Mistress Centipede shrieked.

"Mr. Jones!" Kagome cried. The tears that had not yet spilled over began to do so as relief set in.

Jones jerked in panic, only keeping his hold on the gun in his hand by a miracle. "Wh—why are you crying?! Did you think I was going to leave you behind or something?"

Kagome shouted back, "Why wouldn't I? You wouldn't answer me when I called!"

"Idiot! I couldn't let them know we were working together. Besides, I promised to help you."

Kagome blinked. "Oh."

The woman held at gunpoint interrupted, her voice irritated. "Are you two quite finished?" The attention of the bickering duo on her, she spat out, "What do you want, Jones?"

Jones raised an eyebrow. "Bold for someone with a gun pointed at your heart. Fine then. Let the lady go first."

Mistress Centipede looked like she had just eaten something sour, but she complied, ordering the guard with the key to Kagome's handcuffs to undo the young woman's bonds. As soon as she was free, Kagome skittered over behind Jones, peeking over his shoulder at their hostage.

"The second thing I want," Jones continued, "is for you to hire some smarter goons. I don't know if you've noticed, but this dame looks nothing like Kikyo. Not to mention it was ridiculously easy to free myself."

Centipede laughed outright. "It only took you three months, didn't it Jones? And I beg to differ. I'm quite positive that this is your partner. There's no use trying to keep up this ridiculous charade."

Kagome looked up at Jones in surprise. Kikyo was Jones's partner? Actually, that made sense.

Jones snarled, "The third thing I want is for us to be able to get out of here without any more trouble. Which means you're gonna come with us." He started backing up, Kagome just behind him. He jerked his head, signaling Centipede to follow him.

When a couple of guards stepped forward, reaching for their guns, Centipede barked, "Stand down!" She followed, allowing Jones to grab her by the arm and walk her in front of him, the gun at her back. They all began to head out of the warehouse, the guards left behind them.

Kagome had to almost jog to keep up. As they exited the building, the heat suddenly hit her like a wet blanket. She blinked a few times in response to the sun reflecting off of concrete and almost-white buildings. She was surprised to realize that they were in what seemed to be a desert. Where the ground wasn't covered by concrete, scraggly shrubs struggled to poke up through the dry dirt. Dozens of armed guards patrolled the area. Luckily, none had noticed the three of them when they had first exited the building, but Kagome knew it would likely be only a moment or two before they did.

She hopped up by Jones, stretching as far up as she could while walking quickly to murmur into his ear, "I know we have a hostage, but aren't we at a disadvantage here?"

He gave a quick nod, grunting affirmatively.

There was a beat before Kagome continued, "So do you have a plan?"

"Run when they're distracted."

She looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean when they're—"

Kagome was interrupted when a massive explosion was heard from the direction of the warehouse. She gave a small shriek of surprise, stumbling forward and grabbing Jones's upper arm.

Mistress Centipede jerked, shock showing on her scarred face. "What was that?"

Glancing back the way they had came from, Inuyasha grimaced. "Damn thing wasn't supposed to go off yet!"

" _You_ did that?" Kagome's eyes were wide and she held the man's arm in a death grip.

"Yep. There should be more in just a—"

Jones was cut off when several more colossal explosions went off in the warehouse. The force sent the three stumbling forward several steps, Kagome instinctively reaching up to cover her ears against the boom. Smoke and flames rose out of the building, some small chunks of wood and steel exploding outward.

When the explosions had more or less subsided, Jones said something to Kagome, but she couldn't hear him over the ringing in her ears. _"What?"_

Jones rolled his eyes and suddenly clubbed Mistress Centipede over the head with his gun. She dropped to the ground like a stone. "Run!" Jones shouted.

He took off, and Kagome struggled to follow. "Hey, wait!"

They ran right past guards of the compound to the warehouse. It was chaos—orders were being shouted, people were trying to enter the burning warehouse, others were stumbling out of it. Kagome tried to ignore it all and focus on keeping up with the incredibly fast man ahead of her. Kitten heels were not exactly practical for sprinting for one's life through a desert, unfortunately.

Jones ducked around a corner of a building and paused to lean against it. Kagome followed him around the corner then almost ran past him. She skittered to a stop, almost rolling her ankle in the process.

The man _hmphed_ at her floundering. "Pay attention or you'll end up dead."

"Well, _excuse_ me. I was distracted by _running for my life."_ She had her hands fisted on her hips and feet spread apart, leaning forward slightly. Unfortunately, her flushed cheeks, hair falling out of its knot, and dirty and ripped white blouse and green skirt kept her from looking terribly intimidating.

Jones raised an eyebrows and growled out, "Listen, sweetheart, from here on out you listen to me if you want to make it out of here alive. Got it?"

"Is this sort of thing normal for you or something?" Kagome inquired hotly, brow furrowed in disbelief. "What are you, some sort of secret agent?"

"I'm an archaeologist. College professor on the side." He smirked.

Kagome blinked. " _What_ — _"_

"Now shut up and follow me."

Kagome almost responded with an angry retort, but was in fact forced to stay silent and follow her ally—or maybe escort?—when he took off running again.

Somehow, Jones seemed to know his way around the compound. They ran through the maze, dodging people and buildings, until an armed man came around the corner they were sprinting around. He and Jones ran straight into each other, and Kagome ran full speed into Jones's back. Unlike the guard, though, Jones recovered quickly and grabbed the other man to punch him in the face until he went limp. Jones dropped him to the ground and returned to running, Kagome hopping over the body with a little squeak and following. Most of the other guards seemed to have been sufficiently distracted by the blasts, though, and for a long while the pair met no resistance.

Finally, they came upon a more open area. A concrete road led through the center, leading to a large gate with checkpoints on either side. Several armed men were in the checkpoints, in and around the road. An empty Jeep sat at one of the checkpoints, looking like its occupants had been waiting for clearance to leave the compound when the explosions had gone off.

Jones grabbed Kagome's arm and dragged her a little farther behind the corner of a building, out of sight of the road. "Do you know how to drive?"

"Yes, why?" she responded. Her eyes widened. "Wait—"

"I'm going to go in there and distract them. Once I've taken out a few and got the jeep cleared, get in it and get ready to drive. Got it?"

"I'm not sure this is a good idea."

"Too bad." And he was gone.

Kagome growled but watched around the corner of the building in sick fascination as Jones ran head-on into the open area, drawing his gun and shooting. A couple guards fell in quick succession. The guards left ran at Jones, drawing their weapons.

Jones aimed for the first guard, but another dove and knocked the gun out of Jones's hand, prompting Jones to punch the man and shove him into the the guard he had tried to shoot. Another man tackled Jones to the ground. They rolled around for several seconds, each trying to punch the daylights out of each other. Finally, to Kagome's relief, Jones came out victorious with one final punch to the jaw.

He had just started to get off of his opponent when another guard—the one whom Inuyasha had tried to shoot earlier—grabbed him around the neck and threw him into the dust. The guard drew his gun, but Jones was faster. He kicked the other man's feet out from under him, and, when the man hit the dirt, grabbed the gun from his hand and smacked him across the face. He followed this up by shooting another guard's shoulder.

As Jones grappled with the final guard, Kagome remembered her job. She braced herself, then threw herself out into the open with a grimace. She stumbled toward the jeep, giving her companion and his opponent a wide berth. Unfortunately, the driver's side of the jeep was the side away from her, meaning she had to make a wider arc around the vehicle to reach the door.

Even more unfortunately, while she did so, Kagome's arm was suddenly caught in a vice grip. She screamed and struggled, twisting to get out of her captor's grip. She caught a glimpse of Jones rising up from the ground, wiping a trickle of blood from his mouth before looking her way in—was that concern? She didn't have time to think too much over what she had seen, though, because the man holding her had begun to drag her off.

Thinking quickly, Kagome slammed her heel into the man's foot (Perhaps kitten heels were good for something!), then, when the man doubled over, kneed him between the legs. Stunned at her success, Kagome paused a moment before she was shocked to awareness by Jones's shout of "Hey! Get in the damn jeep!"

"Right!" She dove into the driver's seat, Jones already slamming the door on the passenger side.

The keys were, miraculously, left in the car. Kagome started the jeep up as Jones shouted at her, "Get us out of here!"

 _Well, alright._ Kagome, bracing herself, slammed on the gas. The vehicle roared forward and straight through the chain-link and padlocked gate. Once clear, she floored the gas pedal, roaring into the desert.

"Damn, woman! You're going to kill us!" Jones shouted.

"We need to get out fast, don't we?!"

All she received was an irritated grumble punctuated by several curses. His frustration left her with a feeling of smug satisfaction. Her inward celebration was cut short as, glancing in the rearview mirror, she saw another two black Jeeps stark against the dust. "Mr. Jones, they're following us!"

Jones's head whipped around to check, and seeing that she was right, cursed again and began to climb to his knees in his seat.

"What are you doing? You're blocking my mirror!" Kagome cried.

"I'm going to take care of these guys. Keep your head down," her companion replied gruffly.

" _How I am supposed to see where I'm driving?!"_

Kagome was ignored as Jones situated himself so he was facing the backwards in the vehicle. He pulled his stolen gun up, and began firing for the closest Jeep's tires. Because the target was small and the Jeeps were both moving so fast, it took him several shots to hit the left tire. The explosion caused the Jeep to swerve to the right, then to the left right into its companion vehicle, causing both to spin wildly in the sand. Jones plopped back in his seat, looking satisfied.

"Are they gone?" asked Kagome, somewhat timidly, from where sat hunched over with her head low enough that only her eyes peeked over the steering wheel.

"Yep."

Kagome breathed a sigh of relief and sat up straight again, the tension leaving her shoulders and her grip on the wheel relaxing. "Well, Mr. Jones, I have to admit that—"

Suddenly gunfire ripped through the back of the Jeep. Jones lunged to push Kagome's head back down as she shrieked in surprise. He ducked as well. One stray bullet managed to just miss them and lodge in the windshield.

Kagome, with a moment of clarity, yanked the steering wheel, causing the vehicle to swerve sharply to the right. From her low vantage point, she continued swerving to get out of their opponent's range. After several minutes, they seemed to be in the clear, and Jones, after peeking up and out again, let go of the back of her neck.

Immediately the shaken, irate woman turned to him and shouted, "You said you got rid of them!"

"I, uh, well—" For the first time since Kagome had met him the supposed archaeologist seemed a bit flustered. "I—they—I hadn't told you to get up yet!"

"But you _said_ that they were gone! That _implies_ that it's safe to get up!"

"No it don't!"

"Yes, it generally does! And maybe, Mr. Jones, you should pay attention to who ended up getting us out of trouble!"

The man nearly growled in response, "You wouldn'ta made it out of there in the first place if it wasn't for me, woman!"

Unfortunately, Kagome did not have a good response to that, because, unfortunately, he wasn't wrong.

Seeing that, Jones decided to include one last jab. "And by the way, it's _Doctor_ Jones, sweetheart" he added, smirking.

Kagome did have a response to _that_. "In that case, _Doctor_ Jones, I'll thank you to stop calling me sweetheart, or woman, or girl, or anything other than my name—Kagome! In fact, you can call me _Miss_ Higurashi!"

"Whatever you say."

"Thank you," Kagome replied curtly.

"Sweetheart."

" _Why, you_ — _!"_

"Do you know where you're driving? Or even where you are?"

Kagome glared. "I thought it would be best to focus on getting far away from that miserable place before anything else. Wouldn't you agree?"

"I just don't want to get lost and die in the Nevada desert," Jones responded.

The Jeep came to a screeching halt as Kagome slammed the break. Jones was thrown forward nearly into the windshield.

"What the hell are you doing?!" he yelled.

"Where did you say we are?" cried the young woman. Slight panic began to settle in.

"Nevada. In the United States?" Jones answered, seeming a little confused at her shock. "I guessed you weren't from here, but I figured you knew where that was."

" _I know where Nevada is!_ " Kagome snapped. The woman then seemed to deflate slightly. "I just...was not aware that I was... _in_ Nevada."

"So where are you from?" Jones prompted.

"Tokyo."

"Oh."

Kagome accelerated again, moving across the dirt once more. Her lips were pursed as she struggled to find her bearings, one part of her mind already trying to find her way home.

There was a long silence, then Jones glanced over and said, gruffly, "Just keep driving until we find a city. From there we can get to someone's place."

"Couldn't they be following us?" Kagome asked, squaring her shoulders once again.

"Those guys were probably the only ones who came after us. I made too much trouble for them to worry about anything other than their buildings burning down for a while."

"And who _are_ they?"

Jones settled more comfortably into his seat, looking bored. "That Mistress Centipede and her people are some sort of branch of the yakuza—which I'm going to assume you've heard of. They don't seem to really play the same type of game though. They're interested in...other things."

"Like that jewel? What is it? Did it belong to royalty or something?"

"Something like that."

His vague answer caused Kagome to raise an eyebrow. "Hm."

Jones ignored her. "Pretty sure Centipede isn't actually the one in charge, but whoever her boss is, he doesn't like to get his hands dirty."

"And how are you involved with them, _Mister_ Archaeologist?"

At that, Jones did turn and glare. "You just answered your own question, woman. I'm looking for that stupid jewel."

"Alright, but you looked like you might have been there a while."

"Look, you really don't need to know anything else. There wasn't any point in me telling you any of that, because once we meet up with the old woman, we'll go our separate ways and she can help you get back home."

"I feel like I deserve some sort of explanation!"

"It ain't none of your business!" Jones snapped, causing Kagome to flinch in surprise and glare.

"Fine. Act like a child if you would like _Doctor Jones_." She sneered the title.

"Shut up and drive, woman."

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you think. As always, let me know if I've made a mistake or faux pas with the tags or anything.


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